Aligned, Semiconducting Carbon Nanotube Transistors

Carbon nanotube (CNT) thin film transistors hold promise for high performance flexible and transparent electronics. However, polydispersity in the physical and electronic structure of as-produced CNTs has limited the development of this technology. In a collaboration between NU-MRSEC IRG 4 and IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, this polydispersity problem has been overcome through the use of 99% pure semiconducting CNTs produced using density gradient ultracentrifugation. By combining these high purity CNTs with a self-assembly technique that forms well-aligned thin films, unprecedented device performance has been achieved.

transistor

Scanning electron microscopy image of an aligned, semiconducting carbon nanotube thin film field-effect transistor.

 

This project is a collaboration between Mark Hersam of Northwestern University MRSEC IRG 4 and Phaedon Avouris of IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York.

M. Engel, J. P. Small, M. Steiner, M. Freitag, A. A. Green, M. C. Hersam, and Ph. Avouris, “Thin film nanotube transistors based on self-assembled, aligned, semiconducting carbon nanotube arrays,” ACS Nano, 2, 2445 (2008). ABSTRACT

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The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) is supported by the National Science Foundation under NSF Award Number DMR-0520513. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation.
© 2008 Northwestern University